From 1975 to 2007, Campbell served as a U.S. Department of State Foreign Service officer. He served twice in Nigeria, as political counselor from 1988 to 1990, and as ambassador from 2004 to 2007. Campbell's additional overseas postings include Lyon, Paris, Geneva, and Pretoria. He also served as deputy assistant secretary for human resources, dean of the Foreign Service Institute's School of Language Studies, and director of the Office of UN Political Affairs.

From 2007 to 2008, he was a visiting professor of international relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was also a Department of State mid-career fellow at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Prior to his career in the Foreign Service, he taught British and French history at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.

Campbell received a BA and MA from the University of Virginia and a PhD in seventeenth century English history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Nigeria on the Brink

Nigeria is the "Giant of Africa," with the largest population and highest gross domestic product on the continent. There has long been a partnership between Nigeria and the United States on strategic issues of mutual concern. Nigeria is sharply divided by religion and ethnicity. The government became nominally democratic in 1999. Subsequently, until 2011, the presidency alternated on an eight-year cycle between the predominately Muslim north and the Christian south. The election of President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner, out of cycle in 2011 ended this arrangement. The 2011 election divided the country with the predominately Muslim north questioning the credibility of Jonathan's election. The resulting political instability is part of the context for a radical Islamist insurrection, called Boko Haram (loosely, 'Western education is forbidden'). There is the threat of the resumption of a separate insurrection in Nigeria's southern oil patch. With these security challenges overstretching Nigeria's resources, thepartnership with the United States is largely moribund. Will the Nigerian government be able to successfully address its security and development challenges, and resume its strategic partnership with the United States? I address this question in my book, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, now in its second edition, the Nigeria Security Tracker, speeches, interviews, regular blog posts, and in other publications.

Democracy in Post-Apartheid South Africa

With the end of apartheid in 1994 the people of South Africa anticipated profound social and economic change. Yet twenty-one years later, much of the population lacks access to proper medical care and education. Despite improved access to clean water, housing, and roads many South Africans feel that too little has changed since the apartheid era. The "rainbow nation" is still racially divided in its electoral behavior, and the income gap between blacks and whites is greater than it was in 1994. Leading political figures in the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), are often accused of corruption. New political groups are calling for the nationalization and expropriation of land and resources from the white minority. Nevertheless, the constitution enshrines the rule of law, and has popular support across all racial divides. Are the laws and institutions in place since 1994 strong enough to preserve democracy and the rule of law when the pace of social and economic change remains slow? I seek to answer this question in my upcoming book, Morning in South Africa, in blog posts, and in other publications.

U.S. Interests in Africa

Seven of the UN's seventeen peacekeeping operations are currently located in Sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2013, the gross domestic income (GDI) of Sub-Saharan Africa was $1,615 (compared to the U.S. at $53,670). Governance is often remote from the people. Yet, Africa is changing. Since 2004 the gross domestic income (GDI) has increased by 250 percent and economic growth in 2014 is forecasted by the World Bank at 5.2 percent. The population of Africa is also expected to grow rapidly. One United Nations agency predicts that by 2050, Africans will account for 25 percent of the world's population, at nearly 2.4 billion. However, population growth and rapid urbanization are mixed blessings; both are related to the emergence of diseases such as HIV/AIDs and Ebola. There are governance and security issues challenging American interests. Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb in Mali, and Boko Haram in Nigeria are harshly anti-American, and even if they lack the capacity to strike the homeland they still threaten American interests in the region and those of our partners. Through my blog, Africa in Transition, and my roundtable series, U.S.-Africa Strategic Partnerships, I track African developments that may influence the United States and explore how Washington and African capitals can work together to their mutual benefit.

The 2015 elections again may precipitate violence that could destabilize Nigeria, and Washington has even less leverage in Abuja than it did in 2011. CFR Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies John Campbell analyzes new concerns about Nigeria's fraught politics.

John Campbell, Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies, evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society.

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There is a leadership struggle underway within Boko Haram, the violent, extremist movement that has claimed more than 20,000 lives since 2011 and destabilized the secular Nigerian state and its neighbors. The personal struggle between Abubakar Shekau and Abu Musab al-Barnawi reflects in part the rivalry between Boko Haram and a splinter group, “Ansaru,” and are part of a complex, intra-Muslim conflict across the Sahel, including competition between rival al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State.

Africa’s most populous country is holding tight elections amid a fierce insurgency and plummeting oil revenues. There are concerns that the vote could trigger a new round of instability, writes CFR’s John Campbell.

The 2015 elections again may precipitate violence that could destabilize Nigeria, and Washington has even less leverage in Abuja than it did in 2011. CFR Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies John Campbell analyzes new concerns about Nigeria's fraught politics.

Nigeria’s heavy dependence on oil revenues puts it in a risky position economically and politically, raising new concerns about instability in Africa’s most populous country, writes CFR’s John Campbell.

John Campbell, Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies, evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society.

Poor governance and extreme poverty has contributed to the rise of Boko Haram, a radical Islamist movement, in the northeast of Nigeria. John Campbell argues that to defeat Boko Haram governments must focus on humanitarian assistance and work to improve the lives of northern Nigerians.

U.S. strategic interests in Africa's Sahel have been marginal for decades, but there is a strong case for expanding ties with regional allies to quell a spreading security threat, write J. Peter Pham and CFR's John Campbell.

Asked by John Isibor, from Eastern Mediterranean University November 25, 2013

The response to Boko Haram and other "jihadist" insurgencies is shaping U.S. foreign policy toward Nigeria and the Sahel. But despite rhetoric to the contrary, the region remains a marginal U.S. priority.

Militants in the south of Nigeria – in the area known as the Niger Delta – are blowing up oil pipelines and destroying other essential oil infrastructure. The Cipher Brief talked with Ambassador John Campbell, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 – 2007, about the recent uptick in attacks.

The author of a new book on South Africa's political landscape believes the country's future is bright despite concerns around the quality of political leadership. John Campbell served as a political counselor at the American Embassy in Pretoria in the early to mid 1990s and later as the United States Ambassador to Nigeria and is currently the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Ambassador Campbell sat down with our very own Sherwin Bryce-Pease to talk about his new book - MORNING IN SOUTH AFRICA - that cover the trajectory of the country, its relationship with the United States and his critique of some of the figures who dominate the country's political discourse today.

John Stremlau review's John Campbell's new book Morning in South Africa.

"Readers interested in understanding the differences and similarities between the democratic cultures of South Africa and the U.S., the basis for building and sustaining any strategic partnership — variables such as size, location, economic development, racial composition and the number and nature of domestic and international conflicts — will find Campbell’s chapter 'The historical trajectory' especially helpful."

Business Day's Simon Barber reviews John Campbell's new book Morning in South Africa.

"If you’re looking for a Washington establishment view on SA, Campbell is a good place to start. His state department career began in 1975. It included a stint in Pretoria as political counsellor between 1993 and 1996 and culminated in Nigeria, where he was ambassador from 2004 to 2007."

John Campbell, former US Ambassador to Nigeria on the electionsFor more on that historic presidential election, CCTV spoke to John Campbell. He’s a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and has written extensively on the country.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks to John Campbell, former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and a senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Affairs, about the current situation of the missing Chibok school girls.

West African governments and aid agencies face a number of challenges in attempting to contain the Ebola epidemic, which health officials say threatens to infect more than one million people by early next year. Containing the outbreak will require a massive international response similar to that coordinated after the 2004 South Asia tsunami. CFR's John Campbell offers three things to know about Ebola and West Africa.

The fallout of the Chibok kidnappings has changed the shape of Nigeria's war with Boko Haram. The group is expanding the scope of its operations, while a potential food emergency and impending elections create a precarious situation writes John Campbell.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell talks about the reasons Boko Haram, who recently kidnapped a group of Nigerian schoolgirls, was not designated as a terrorist organization by the State Department under former Sec. Hillary Clinton.

Nigeria is divided, and religion is one aspect of that, but in a culture saturated by religiosity grievances are often understood through a religious and moral lens, writes John Campbell of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The violence in the Central African Republic has neighboring countries concerned as fierce fighting and a weak government threaten to propel the humanitarian crisis beyond the country's borders. John Campbell, CFR's Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, highlights three things to know about the crisis and what is needed for peace.

Carol Castiel hosts Chief of VOA's Hausa Service, Leo Keyen and Ambassador John Campbell, former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, currently Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, about the root causes and implications of the conflicts in South Sudan and the Central African Republic as well as the ongoing insurgencies in Mali and Northern Nigeria.

Thousands have been killed since Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram launched its uprising in 2009. Nigeria is resource rich and Africa's most populous country. In the last three years, Boko Haram has killed 358 people according to the government, but others estimate the true figure to be more than 1,500. Based largely in Nigeria's northeast, the militant group and its off-shoot Ansaru, has been fighting for more than four years to try to carve an Islamic state in this multi-religious and multi-ethnic country.

Joining John Rees in the studio to discuss this is Dr Olawale Ismail, Head of Research International Alert, and joining us on the phone from Washington is Ambassador John Campbell, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, expert on US policy toward Africa and author of a new book should United States fear Boko Haram? On the phone from Nigeria we have Mausi Segun, Nigeria Researcher for Human Rights Watch and to complete our panel we have Dr David Lowe, lecturer in law, security and terrorism, at Liverpool John Moores University.

Although the recently signed Arms Trade Treaty has raised hopes that arms trafficking will wane in West Africa, the CFR's John Campbell is more cautious. He thinks everything rests upon how the treaty is implemented in a region still characterized by weak administrative and institutional capacities. An interview with John Campbell.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been officially named the winner of elections held Wednesday. GPS Intern Inesha Premaratne speaks with John Campbell, senior fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former ambassador to Nigeria, for his take on the results and what they mean for Zimbabwe.

Renee Montagne talks with former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell about recent school attacks in Nigeria. The group believed to be behind them is called Boko Haram. Campbell is Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell discusses President Barack Obama's first trip to South Africa as U.S. president and why the U.S. is lagging behind other countries in pushing investment on the African continent. He speaks with Mark Crumpton on Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line." (Source: Bloomberg)

John Campbell argues that alienation of the North of Nigeria is a huge challenge for the presidential elections in 2015, money influence will be tested again at polls, and he claims that the region is being engaged, Ambassador Adefuye affirms this.

Land reform in Africa is not just about righting a historical wrong. Today, it is also about food security, about political and economic corruption, and in many cases about fundamental human rights. This week's episode of "On the Line" tackles some of these complicated issues. GUESTS Ambassador John Campbell: Former US Ambassador to Nigeria; Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, Council on Foreign Relations. Obang Metho: Executive Director, Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia. George Ayittey: Economist; President, Free Africa Foundation.

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John Stremlau review's John Campbell's new book Morning in South Africa.

"Readers interested in understanding the differences and similarities between the democratic cultures of South Africa and the U.S., the basis for building and sustaining any strategic partnership — variables such as size, location, economic development, racial composition and the number and nature of domestic and international conflicts — will find Campbell’s chapter 'The historical trajectory' especially helpful."

Business Day's Simon Barber reviews John Campbell's new book Morning in South Africa.

"If you’re looking for a Washington establishment view on SA, Campbell is a good place to start. His state department career began in 1975. It included a stint in Pretoria as political counsellor between 1993 and 1996 and culminated in Nigeria, where he was ambassador from 2004 to 2007."

Books by John Campbell: Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink

John Campbell evaluates South Africa's institutions since the end of Apartheid and examines the country's current political trajectory. Campbell concludes that South Africa’s institutions and dedication to the rule of law will allow the young democracy to overcome the growing pains it currently faces.

Nigeria Security Tracker

The interactive Nigeria Security Tracker documents and maps violence motivated by political, economic, or social grievances.